I’m very excited to have had a post published on Elite Daily today titled, “How To Not Feel Insignificant When Trying To Fight Global Climate Change.”Woooo! I’m a huge proponent of helping the environment. From using reusable bags (not just when grocery shopping, but for ANY shopping!) and avoiding plastic utensils, to unplugging unused cords (your chargers are still using energy even if there’s no phone/laptop/camera plugged into them!) and turning off lights — there are so many small steps we can take to ensure a long life for planet Earth.

This world can be really shitty at times, but let’s all take a second to remember how beautiful it can be too.

The world’s problems can seem too huge and daunting to fix, but the good news is that we can all make a difference with even the smallest of actions. Educate yourself and others on the facts and from there, anything is possible. Let’s be more mindful and help to make this world a more wonderful place!

Nearly 800 million people don’t have access to clean water. Did you take a shower this morning? Keep the tap running as you brushed your teeth? Boil some water for your ramen noodles? Water is absolutely essential and the folks at charity: water aim to eradicate the water crisis with each clean water well they build. Help them help the world by donating now! And guess what? 100 percent of your donation goes straight to the field. http://www.charitywater.org/

Approximately 2.7 million healthy cats and dogs are euthanized each year because shelters are too full. Remember that time you went to a party but it was too crowded so somebody stuck a needle in your arm and you died? No? Right. Pups and kittens are great, but folks need to be open to adopting the seniors and mutts too. Adopt, don’t shop people. And spay and neuter those frisky critters! Best Friends is a no-kill non profit and your donation helps fuel their programs around the country. http://bestfriends.org/donate

With nearly 19,000 deaths this year, the US is set to have its deadliest traffic year since 2007 according to the National Safety Council. Let me repeat that. Nineteen THOUSAND people have already died this year in traffic accidents. You know that cool Snapchat filter which tracks MPH? If you’re driving, you sure as hell should not be using it. Traffic deaths happen due to a variety of reasons, but for the love of your life and everyone else’s please leave the phone alone. Learn more here: http://www.nsc.org/learn

Less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled each year, according to the Clean Air Council. But when I throw bags in the trash, they just disappear and I don’t have to deal with them again so who cares, right? Well I’m pretty sure all of the turtles, dolphins and whales of the world, who choke on these bags, would beg to differ. Ban the bag! Find your state legislator and spread the word. http://www.ncsl.org/

We live in a world where more people have cellphones than toilets. Are you currently sitting on a toilet as you read this on your mobile device? Yeah… Let’s support Unicef in their efforts to prevent open defecation so that everyone may safely pee, poop and pinterest in peace. http://support.unicef.org/

Nine percent of the homeless population is made up of veterans. Homelessness is a huge problem in general, but the fact that those who fought for our continued freedom and rights are now without shelter is not OK. These folks suffer not only from physical wounds, but emotional distress too. Veteran’s Day is coming up; let’s support all of them. http://veteransmatter.org/donate/

Nations like the US and UK waste 1.5 trillion pounds of food each year. I don’t even know how to put that number into perspective for you, but I think we can all agree that it’s way too much. From oversized portions and sneaky sell by dates, to forgetfulness and bias against bruised fruit and veggies, it’s easy to waste food these days. Food waste harms our climate, culture and biodiversity. Lettuce be better about this. http://www.endfoodwastenow.org/

Hunger kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Remember how I just told you about all the food we waste? From bruised apples to dented cans of food, we throw so much away while folks are literally starving. Skip the la-dee-dah latte you don’t need this morning and help save a life. I bet you’ll feel even more energized. http://www.stophungernow.org/

More than 1 million American youth end up in juvenile court each year. These are the folks of the future who we need to build up, support and educate. Support those in your community and join Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to help kids become the leaders we can all rally behind. http://www.bbbs.org/

As I write this post, I’m drinking clean, cold water which came from a filtered water machine in my office. I simply walked over, pushed a button and whooosh — clean water with basically zero effort on my part. As I write this post, 633 million people don’t have clean water. Think about how often you use water, besides to drink. We shower, clean and cook with it. We have sprinklers to literally run through it. We have water balloon fights! And we don’t think twice about how we’re going to access the water we need.

And then there are girls like Letikiros. When I read her story, I couldn’t believe how out of touch I was. Why wasn’t her story on the news? Why is the water crisis seemingly less important than Justin Bieber’s latest mugshot? Out of sight, out of mind, right? This crisis isn’t happening in our backyard, so what does it matter?

BREAKING NEWS: It matters. A LOT. Any one of us could have just as easily been born into a situation where we needed to spend hours of the day trudging along in the heat, carrying clay pots, all to get to a water supply where the water was sketchy at best.

She walked four days a week for water, and attended school part-time the other three days. Since there was no school in Meda then, reaching the classroom in a neighboring village was another 6 hour round trip walk. In order for Letikiros to be able to attend school at all, her mother would pay to rent a donkey each week which could carry four pots of water on a single trip from the Bembya River. But there simply wasn’t enough money to relieve Letikiros of her water duty altogether, and she quickly fell behind. By the age of 13, she had only completed the third grade.

Can you imagine not being able to attend school full time because you needed to allocate days to retrieve water for your family? No child should have to do that.

Last year, I started a campaign for my 23rd birthday to raise $2300 for charity: water.I became familiar with the charity through online research and have been a champion of theirs since.

Through this campaign, I ended up raising nearly $2500; Enough to provide clean water to 70 people. I was also invited to charity: water’s annual gala in NYC where I met so many inspiring folks and generous philanthropists who are just as passionate about the cause as I am.

It’s officially my birthday month again and I’m running another campaign (to which I’ve already donated because I don’t believe in asking others to donate to a cause that I wouldn’t donate to myself). I’m turning 24 on September 27 and my goal is to raise $2400. You can find my campaign page here.

I know it’s September and you’re itching for that pumpkin spice latte, but isn’t it worth the lives of others to give that up for a day and put the money towards something truly life-changing for someone else? You can learn more about the water crisis here.